


A Desperate Act

by wynnebat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Post-Hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-01
Updated: 2014-09-01
Packaged: 2018-03-21 22:36:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3706459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wynnebat/pseuds/wynnebat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When he hears about Blaise's interest in Luna, there's only one thing Draco can do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Desperate Act

"Lovegood? You want to date Lovegood?" Draco said as he sat down across from Blaise. He'd been in a great mood today - his stocks were doing well, he was wearing his favorite suit, and he'd finally received an important package - right up until Pansy had told him what Blaise planned to do. She'd said it in such an offhand way, like it didn't matter.

"Yeah, what of it?" Blaise asked, sipping his imported firewhiskey and raising one perfectly plucked eyebrow. Draco couldn't think of one similarity Blaise and Luna shared. They'd make a terrible match.

Draco snorted. "Better hope her insanity isn't contagious." It was more difficult than he'd thought, to speak of her that way. Maybe that meant he'd actually changed since the war.

Blaise looked away, and Draco paused.

"Or hereditary," he said, after coming to a realization. "My Merlin. You're serious about her." He's never seen that intent expression on Blaise's face, that happiness in his eyes. Was he actually in love with Lovegood? That would never, ever do. She would drive him insane, and he would stifle her. They'd bring out the worst in each other. (And he wasn't just saying that out of something so silly as jealousy.) Even if he'd changed since the war, he was still an underhanded bastard, so he added, "I doubt your mother will approve, anyway."

"I don't care," Blaise said. "I've put off marriage for too long. Practically everyone I know is either married or a relative. And... I've worked with Luna. I liked her."

The toddler inside Draco, the one who'd destroyed half the manor in a tantrum ages ago, wanted to wring Blaise's neck and never have to worry about any of this again. The rest of him, years older and slightly more sensible, had a different plan. It was haphazard and depended too much on factors other than himself, but it was the only thing he could think of. He disapparated from Blaise's restaurant booth, barely noticing the chair he'd knocked down in his haste, and appeared on a flower-covered hill.

He was an hour early, but it wasn't like Luna would mind. Not after this very hill united them after the war; he'd splinched himself here, and Luna had helped him find his scattered parts, and healed his wounds. He'd told her she was an angel, and he still believed that to this day. Her heart was as big as the ocean when his was only a pond - big enough to include himself, his parents, and her - and her forgiveness of her time in his dungeons helped as much as it hurt. And afterwards, they'd kept on meeting, just the two of them for an hour a day. It was his hope that in that time, she'd come to love him as much as he'd fallen head over heels for her.

"A flitterbug said you needed to see me," a familiar voice said.

Draco spun around and there she was. He was selfish and she was lovely and he couldn't think of a match worse than theirs. He still said, "I'm here to ask you to not date Blaise."

"Why?"

"Because..." He stared into her unwavering, unblinking eyes, which acted like Veritaserum against his weak will. "I'd like to marry you one day, and I need more time to convince you to love me."

Luna didn't say a word.

He kept talking, listing reasons, trying to reason with something that couldn't be reasoned with: love. He finished with, "Besides, Luna Malfoy sounds better that Luna Zabini." She wasn't vain, but she did like sounds and rhythms, and maybe theirs could be the best song of all.

"Really? I think it sounds terrible." Luna's voice wasn't cold, nor was it angry. She sounded as sweet and kind and airy as she usually did. Somehow, that just made it worse.

Draco swallowed. She was not his prisoner, not held captive in his dungeon any longer. She was her own person, as beautiful and awful as it was, he couldn't make her change her mind. Maybe she'd gotten sick of him, maybe she'd never truly forgive him for the war, maybe she wasn't attracted to him, maybe he wasn't worth her love. It had been much easier to love her when he hadn't known rejection from her. He started to turn around, but his pace was broken with her words.

"I wouldn't mind Luna Lovegood Malfoy though," Luna said, her lips curling into a soft smile as Draco beamed.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Complete; no sequel planned.


End file.
